Publications by authors named "Bijuan Yang"

Article Synopsis
  • Human DNA topoisomerase I (Topo I) plays a crucial role in DNA regulation during processes like transcription and replication, making it a target for cancer treatments.
  • A medicinal herb used in China for cancer treatment has yielded new compounds, including flavonoids and polyacetylenes, some of which show significant cytotoxic effects against human cancer cell lines.
  • Certain flavonoids and polyacetylenes inhibit Topo I activity and cause cell cycle arrest in colon cancer cells, indicating that these flavonoids are likely key contributors to the herb's anti-tumor effects.
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Artesunate, a derivative of artemisinin, has anti-malarial effects, and in recent years has also been reported to have anti-tumor activity. However, its anti-tumor mechanisms are not well understood. In this study, we focused on the targeting of Hsp90 by artesunate to inhibit tumor cell proliferation, which we examined using immunoprecipitation, a proliferation assay, flow cytometry, western blotting, a tumor xenograft animal model, and immunohistochemistry.

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Humans have been suffering from vitiligo for a long time. Target vitiligo drugs have yet been approved. Activation of Wnt/β-catenin signalling has potential in the therapeutic use of vitiligo, so exploring new drugs that specifically directly activate Wnt is worthwhile to obtain new anti-vitiligo agents.

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The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is unprecedented in human history. As a major structural protein, nucleocapsid protein (NPro) is critical to the replication of SARS-CoV-2. In this work, 17 NPro-targeting phenanthridine derivatives were rationally designed and synthesized, based on the crystal structure of NPro.

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Two new cycloartane triterpenoids, (24 )-cycloartane-3,24,25,30-tetrol () and (24 )-24,25,30-trihydroxy-9,19-cycloartane-3-one (), along with three known compounds () were isolated from leaves and twigs of . The new compounds were elucidated based on comprehensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1 D, 2 D NMR and HREIMS. The in vitro cytotoxic activities evaluation of five human cancer cell lines revealed that compound exhibited cytotoxic activity on all of tested human cancer cell lines, while compound only had specific activity on SMMC-7721 cell line.

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Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) has become increasingly problematic around the world, not only for its hazards to livestock but also due to the possibility that it is a zoonotic disease. Although vaccine therapy has made some progress toward PEDV control, additional effective therapeutic strategies against PEDV are needed, such as the development of chemotherapeutic agents. The aim of this work was to identify novel anti-PEDV agents by designing and synthesizing a series of phenanthridine derivatives.

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Aphananoid A, a limonoid which features a rare C appendage and new 5/6/5 fused-ring framework, was obtained from . The planar structure as well as the absolute configuration was identified based on extensive spectroscopic analysis and electronic circular dichroism calculations. The biogenetic pathway of aphananoid A was also speculated, which arises from the triterpene by the 3,4--7,8--6,8 -7,30- key pattern.

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Two new sesquiterpenoids were isolated from Stellera chamaejasme L., known as the traditional Chinese herb 'Rui Xiang Lang Du'. The compounds were elucidated as stelleraguaianone B (1) and C (2) by comprehensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR as well as HRESIMS, and by comparing their NMR data with known compounds.

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Two new lignans (-), along with five known compounds (-) with different structures were isolated from leaves and twigs of Croizat. The new lignans were elucidated as (7'R,8'S)-3,3',5'-trimethoxy-4,4'-dihydroxy-7-en-7',9- epoxy-8,8'-lignan () and (7'R,8'S)-3,3'-dimethoxy-4,4'-dihydroxy-7-en-7',9-epoxy-8, 8'-lignan () by comprehensive spectroscopic analysis including 1D and 2D NMR as well as HREIMS and comparing their NMR data with known compounds in the literature. Among these isolated compounds, compound , , , and were tested for anti- inflammatory effects by inhibiting NO production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.

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Article Synopsis
  • HLY78 is the first agonist that activates the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway by targeting the DAX domain of axin, but its weak effect limits its use in pharmacological studies.
  • Researchers optimized HLY78 by designing and synthesizing 36 new derivatives, some of which demonstrated stronger Wnt activity than the original compound.
  • One notable derivative significantly outperformed HLY78, showing 10 times greater potency, while the structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis highlighted that a pyrazole group at the C-8 position and a specific methyl substitution at C-4 enhance Wnt activation, while oxidation at C-6 diminishes it.
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Previously, HLY78, a lycorine derivative, was identified as the first Wnt/β-catenin signaling agonist through binding to the DAX domain of Axin, a scaffold of Wnt/β-catenin complex. In this study, to obtain more potent Wnt/β-catenin agonist, the structure optimization of HLY78 was carried out by design and synthesis of six phenanthridine derivatives, which afforded five active ones. In particular, 8,9-bis((1,3-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol)methoxy)-5-ethyl-4-methyl-5,6-dihydrophenanthridine showed the most potent activity (0.

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Rare ent-abietane-rosane diterpenoid heterodimers, Bisebracteolasins A and B (1 and 2, respectively), were isolated from the roots of Euphorbia ebracteolata Hayata. Their structures and absolute configurations were elucidated from spectroscopic data and X-ray diffraction analysis. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibited moderate cytotoxic effects against five cancer cell lines.

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A new sesquiterpenoid (‒)-ethyl dihydrophaseate (1) was isolated from the stems and leaves of Polyalthia petelotii, together with two clerodane diterpenoids, 16α-hydroxycleroda-3,13(14)Z-dien-15,16-olide (2), 15-hydroxy-cis-ent-cleroda-3,13(E)-diene (3), a eudesmane sesquiterpenoid, eudesm-4(15)-ene-7α,11-diol (4), an aromatic aldehyde, vanillin (5), a bisisoquinolines alkaloid, spinosine (6) and an aporphine alkaloid, (‒)-oliveroline-β-N-oxide (7). Their structures were established by extensive spectroscopic analysis, including 2D-NMR techniques. Compounds 3, 4 and 6 were isolated from the genus Polyalthia for the first time and the others obtained originally from P.

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